Strangers on the Shore: Sub-Saharan African “Irregular” Migrants in Malta

Abstract

This article explores narratives of strangerhood given by young migrants from sub-Saharan Africa (some arriving without documentation and in noncompliance with immigration laws) living in Malta. The article draws on Simmel's positioning of the stranger as both proximate and distant—and, therefore, in ambiguous social space—and on Douglas's work on pollution. Migrants’ understandings of their experience from positions of strangerhood in a society in which racism has been common are discussed. The article draws on material from a series of interviews with young migrants and shows how they attempt to make sense of their often-stigmatized identities. The analysis considers their reflections on how others position them, and how they position themselves, as immigrants in Maltese society. The study concludes by touching on the broad implications of the analysis for theorizing the position of migrants, as strangers, in social space and for policy development in this field.